ACC Insider - It's last call for the ACC as we've known it

The tradition-laden tournament will continue on, but it will never be the same after the deck of conference realignment is officially reshuffled.

By Brett FriedlanderStarNewsACC@gmail.com

GREENSBORO | There's a sense of melancholy surrounding this year's Big East basketball tournament in New York.For good reason.This will be the event's last hurrah because of the breakoff of the Catholic Seven and league's imminent demise.By comparison, there isn't nearly as much nostalgia floating around Greensboro Coliseum this week as the ACC convenes for the 60th anniversary of its annual postseason soiree.But there should be.Because while the nation's best, most tradition-laden tournament will continue on – at least in name – after the deck of conference realignment is officially reshuffled this summer, it will never be the same.With 15 teams, an extra day of games and very little at stake, other than the trophy that's handed out at the end, future ACC tournaments will look and feel more like a gathering of strangers than the family reunion it always has been.There are those who will argue that the event North Carolina coach Roy Williams likes to call “that big cocktail party” has already been irreparably harmed by the evolution that has taken place since the first round of league expansion nearly a decade ago.Where ticket books once were so scarce and valuable that they were bequeathed to family members in wills and sold on the secondary market at the equivalent of a week's salary, now there are so many empty seats that the service charge on StubHub was more than the actual ticket price for first-round games last year in Atlanta.A big part of the problem is the addition of apathetic fan bases at Boston College and Miami, schools whose alumni have no emotional ties to the ACC or its tournament, and are located too far away to make the trip worth the time or effort. It's a situation that will only become more exaggerated once – tradition be damned – three more new teams arrive next season and charter member Maryland leaves in 2014.The upside of the upheaval is that the caliber of play on the court should improve exponentially once Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Notre Dame and eventually Louisville bring their nationally ranked programs into the fold. But even that will be small consolation to those of us who grew up “Sailing with the Pilot” watching ACC basketball to the soundtrack of Thacker and Packer on Saturday afternoons.Will it really be the ACC tournament if traditional league members such as Wake Forest, Clemson, Virginia – or even N.C. State – are long gone by the time everyone starts showing up for the games that matter on quarterfinal Friday? Or if, as expected, the tournament is plucked from its North Carolina roots and rotated to such foreign places as Pittsburgh, Boston or (gasp) New York City?In a word: No. It won't.That's one reason why we shouldn't take the event that tips off with four opening round games today for granted. Another is that, with such a tightly bunched field, this could be the most wide-open and entertaining tournament since Wake Forest, UNC, Maryland and Virginia tied for first place and came to Greensboro as favorites in 1995.Given the circumstances, it would only be fitting for a team to pay homage to its past and come out of nowhere to cut down the nets on Sunday – the way so many other underdogs did during the days in which the tournament actually meant more than just an excuse to make money and add “inventory” for ESPN.No matter what, the ACC tournament will survive the coming transformation and continue to thrive, just as it has endured in the face of previous change. It is, after all, nothing more than a glorified cocktail party.Right?If that's the case, you might want to raise your glass one last time at some point this week, take a drink and savor the taste for as long as you can. Because once this one is over, it will never be the same.

ACC Insider Brett Friedlander can be reached at starnewsacc@gmail.com.

Handicapping the ACC tournament hasn’t been much of a challenge in recent years. All you had to do is pick North Carolina or Duke and there was a 50-50 chance you’d be right. That may still happen this year. But given Miami’s surprise regular-season title and the unpredictability of so many of the teams, the event that tips off at noon today at Greensboro Coliseum has the potential to be the most competitive and wide-open in recent memory.So how will it all turn out? Here’s one reporter’s projection:TODAYNo. 8 Boston College 66, No. 9 Georgia Tech 61No. 5 N.C. State 77, vs. No. 12 Virginia Tech 69: This is a dangerous opener for the Wolfpack, but as long as C.J. Leslie decides to show up, State will survive and advance.No. 7 Maryland 74, No. 10 Wake Forest 64: Although the Deacons are close to home, where they play their best, this still isn’t the Joel.No. 6 Florida State 62, No. 11 Clemson 49FRIDAYNo. 1 Miami 57, Boston College 53N.C. State 72, No. 4 Virginia 69: This has the potential to be the best game of the tournament.No. 2 Duke 83, Maryland 70: The Blue Devils can’t wait to get another shot at the Terrapins after what happened in College Park last month.No. 3 UNC 78, Florida State 70: The Seminoles have the potential to give the Tar Heels’ smaller lineup problems.SATURDAYN.C. State 86, Miami 84: State needs and wants it more than the Hurricanes, who get caught looking ahead.Duke 80, UNC 74: The Blue Devils are simply better than the Tar Heels right now, especially with Kelly back. SUNDAYDuke 87, N.C. State 79: The Wolfpack runs out of gas in its fourth game in four days while the Blue Devils roll into the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 overall seed. Duke 87, N.C. State 79.